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ADVANCE SHEETS 



UNITED STATES BUREAU OF EDUCATION 

CHAPTER FROM THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION 

For 1910 



Chapter -XVI 



Reports on International Congresses 
by American Delegates 



WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1910 



in^ 






CHAPTER XVI. 

REPORTS ON INTERNATIONAL CONGRESSES BY 
MIERICAN DELEGATES. 



CONTENTS. 

Page. 

I. Third International Congress on Home Education, Brussels, 1910 579 

II. Third International Congress on School Hygiene, Paris, 1910 589 

III. Third International Congress on Physical Education of the Young, Brassels, 1910 598 



[The year was marked by three international congresses pertaining to recent developments in respect to 
the welfareof the young. Many private agencies have been called into existence in the United States by the 
rapid spread of interest in the subject to whicli these congresses relate, and, as ah'eady stated in this report, 
the proposition to hold the Fourth International Congress on Home Education in the United States has 
been adopted by the organizing committee of the congress. To meet tlie inquiries which this decision will 
naturally excite, together with demands for information on the kindred subjects of school hygiene and phys- 
ical training to which tv/o of the three congresses pertained, the reports of the proceedings, by delegates who 
represented the United States at the congresses referred to, arc here brought together in a form convenient 
for reference.] 



I. REPORT OF THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON HOME 
EDUCATION, HELD AT BRUSSELS AUGUST 21-25, 1910. 

By Will S. Monroe, State Normal School, Montclair, N. J., accredited as a 
National Delegate to the Congress. 



Organization of the first congress on home education. — Officers of the recent meeting. — Work of the general 
and special sessions of the congress. — The study of children. — General questions touching family educa- 
tion. — Instruction in the hygiene of sex. — Improvement of family life in rural communities.— Family 
education before the school age. — Family education during the school age. — Education of girls. — Man- 
ual training. — Family education after the school age and continuation schools.— Social education. — 
School excursions. — Education of abnormal children. — Other problems. — American officers selected 
to organize the next meeting of the congress. 



The International Congress on Home Education, which held its 
third meeting at Brussels August the 21st, 22d, 23d, 24th, and 25th, 
1910, was organized under the auspices of the Belgian Government 
in 1905 in connection with the international exposition held that 
year at Liege. Twelve hundred delegates, representing 20 foreign 
governments, were in attendance, and 250 persons participated in 
the deliberations of the congress. The second meeting of the con- 

579 



580 EDUCATION EEPORT, 1910. 

gress was held at Milan in 1906, in connection with the international 
exposition that celebrated the completion of the Simplon tunnel 
through the Alps. (For an account of this congress see the Annual 
Report of the Commissioner of Education for 1906.) 

The recent meeting at Brussels was attended by more than 2,000 
members, representing practically all the civilized countries of the 
world. The congress was organized by a commission selected by the 
Belgian Government, and the officers selected at Milan, in coopera- 
tion with international committees' appomted by foreign govern- 
ments. Mrs. Lucie Felix-Faure Goyau, of France, was the president 
of the congress, Mr. Paul De Vuyst, of Brussels, vice-president, and 
Mr. Louis Pien, of Brussels, secretary. Nineteen foreign govern- 
ments were represented on the international commission. 

In addition to the general meetings of the congress, special sec- 
tional meetings were held for the discussion of particular topics. 
The first section concerned itself with matters touching the study of 
children (pedologie). Nine topics were selected as the basis of the 
papers and discussions of the section. The first question touched 
upon the general mental characteristics of children, their tendencies, 
and faults. H. Thiselton Mark, of the University of Manchester, 
England, discussed the instmctive tendencies of children, which lie 
on the border land between the mental and physical. He pointed 
out that the child's instincts are his inherited power to grapple with 
the worjd and to use its resources; that the instincts being psycho- 
physical organisms, all acquisition must be based upon their use, 
and that the school must not interrupt normal development of the 
instmcts. Miss Theda Gildemeister, of the State Normal School at 
Winona, Minn., ])resented some of the mental traits of children to 
be developed in instruction in reading. Biography and autobio- 
graphical literature were recommended for their v/ealth of ideals and 
varied types of character which should be presented to children during 
the preadolescent period. Professor Claviere, of the Jean-Bart Col- 
lege, Dunkerque, France, presented an interesting genetic study on 
the faults of cliildren based upon the returns of a questionnaire. 
Children were asked to name (1) their own chief faults and (2) the 
faults of their classmates. Their own faults they attribute (1) to 
thoughtlessness, (2) to timidit}^, (3) to idleness, (4) to obstinacy, and 
(5) to impulsiveness. It was interesting to note that 47 per cent of 
the boys questioned thought their faults due to thoughtlessness, 
while only 15 per cent of the faults in their fellows were attributed to 
this cause. Thirty-one per cent of the faults in colleagues were 
attributed to idleness, while less than 7 per cent of the boys thought 
idleness a cause of their own misdemeanors. 

Five papers were presented on the methods of studying children, 
the most significant contribution being that of Dr. I. loteyko, 



IKTEENATIONAL CONGEESS ON HOME EDUCATION. 581 

director of the psychological laboratory in the University of Brus- 
sels. She pointed out the need of standards in testing children, and 
of the use of instruments and appliances that might give accurate 
and definite results. The ergograph of Mosso she thought of special 
value, and she recommended the use of the dynamometer and other 
instruments that give graphic results. Doctor Ensch, of Brussels, 
called attention to the need of more definite anthropometric tests of 
children, and Doctor Ilerderschee, of Amsterdam, gave the results 
of measurement of the cranium of 1,000 school cliildren and the cor- 
relation of the results with the mental ability of the pupils. Papers 
by Mrs. Nadine Koschkine, of the University of Grenoble, France, 
and Dr. Joseph O. Vertes, of Budapest, dealt with instruments, 
methods, and results in the study of the memories of children 
in Russia and Hungary. 

Methods of studying mental fatigue were discussed by Doctor 
Hamelincke, of Ghent; Professor Van Wayenburg, of the University 
of Amsterdam, and Mr. P. Michaux, of Brussels. The speakers con- 
sidered the various methods in current use in determining the power 
of endurance of children; they indicated faults in each of the w^ell- 
known methods, and urged the development of new methods which 
might obviate the objections to the extensively used direct and indi- 
rect methods of the Germans, French, and Italians. 

Th?. problem of child suicide, and its scientific stud}', occupied one 
session of the child-study department. It was the judgment of the 
section that the recent German report on the subject gave undue 
prominence to the school as a cause of self-destruction among children. 
The physical condition of the child and his home environment, 
together with religious training and social relations, it was urged, were 
not sufliciently considered in the German study. 

Mrs. Frederic SchofF, president of the Mothers' Congress in the 
United States, presented a paper dealing with the causes of crime 
among normal children. Among the causes, based upon a study of 
1,589 juvenile delinquents, the follow^ing were enumerated: Drunk- 
enness of parents, disorganized homes (separation of parents), poverty 
of the family, and habits of truancy. Mrs. Sclioft' thought the most 
important step in the reduction of juvenile crime among normal 
children was the education of the parents. She believed that it was 
more important that education of parents concerning child develop- 
ment and care be made compulsory than laws for the compulsory 
attendance of children at school. 

General questions touching famil}^ education were brought before 
the second section of the congress. Ten topics had been formulated 
as the groundwork of the 58 papers and addresses, including "Char- 
acter and need of parents' associations," "Control of the child's 
reading in the home," "The family and the peace movement," 



582 EDUCATION EEPOET^ 1910. 

''Moral and civic instruction in the home/' ''Problem of domestic 
science/' "Modern language study in the home/' "The home as a 
factor in the choice of the child's occupation/' "Hygiene and aesthet- 
ics of clothing/' and "Agriculture and the rural home." A significant 
paper was that of Mrs. Fannie Fern Andrews, of Boston, on "The 
union of the school and the family." She gave an account of the 

J Boston Home and School Association and outlined its numerous 
civic, social, and educational activities. Such associations, she 
pointed out, composed of the men and women whose children were 
in the schools, brought about an understanding between parents and 
teachers that greatly facilitated the work of teaching and furthered 
progressive reform movements. Among other values of the asso- 
ciations were higher standards in the home, increased responsibility 
of parents, and the development of a community life that unified all 
the endeavore for the good of the community. 

Miss Winifred Gibbs gave an account of "Home education in 
proper feeding in New York City,'^ and outlined the methods of social 
workers in instructing poor women and girls in their own kitchens 
how to utilize the materials of food at hand so tliat a maximum of 
strength might be obtained from a minimum of outlay in the way of 
money. Mrs. J. Scott Anderson told the congress of the workings 

M of the Philadelphia Home and School League, and Miss Charlotte M. 
Mason of the Parents' National Educational Union in Great Britain. 
Both these papers indicated some of the practical means that were 
being employed in America and England to bring the home and the 
school into sympathetic cooperation. 

The home value of play was the subject of a paper by Miss Alice 
Ravenhill, of Kings College for Women, England, and the control 
of the home reading of the child was presented by Mss Pauline 
Herber, of Boppard, Germany; Charles L. Wesseling, of Haarlem, 
Holland; Edouard Froidure, of Ypres, Belgium; the Abbe Soulange- 
Sodin, of Paris, France; D. Tikhomirof, of Moscow, Russia; and A. 
Merchier, of Lille, France. Several of the speakers deplored the lack 
of suitable books for young people and the absence of supervision of 
the book lists of the young. It was clear fiom the discussion that 
most of the European countries are distinctly behind the United 
States in the matter of library facilities for young people. 

Prof. C. H. Spence, of Clifton College, England, in presenting the 
question of the home in relation to civic instruction, maintained that 
the famil}^ was the unit of civic life, and that the discussion of public 
questions in the famil}^ should lay the foundation of civic training 
and develop such civic virtues as patriotism and public spirit, rigid 
honesty and a high sense of honor in money matters, a love of fair 
play and good temper, and respect for the motives and opinions of 
pohtical opponents. Mr. Charles Rossignol, of Brussels, followed 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON HOME EDUCATION. 583 

with a paper on the rolo of the familv in propagating doctrines of 
peace. 

Seven papers, were devoted to the subject of the family as a factor 
in the moral education of the child, and here, as in several of the 
other sections, the question of moral education called forth some of 
the liveliest discussion of the congress. Gustave Spiller, president 
of the International Union of Ethical Societies of London, gave the 
first paper of the series. Moral education in the family he thought 
should be made more concrete. The Abbe Simon, of Grand-Leez, 
Belgium, indicated five ways in which the family might influence the 
moral education of the child— the example of the parents, the forma- 
tion of good habits in the child, correction for faults and unmoral acts, 
the selection of the right kind of a school, and the close supervision 
of the child during the times when he is not m the home. Several 
of the speakers did not think that the moral education of the child 
could be separated from religion. 

Mi-s. Fannie L. Lachmund, of the Teachers' College at St. Louis, 
Mo., presented a paper on the conservation of the intellectual life 
of the people thi^ough the development of vocational interests and 
efficiency; George Blondel, of Paris, on the extension of economic 
knowledge in the home; A. Spreng, of Berne, Switzerland, on the 
organization of special courees for the stud}^ of popular economic 
questions; M. Boufro}^ of Villers-Bretonneux, France, and Walter 
Bippmann, of England, on the study of modern languages in the 
home by conversational methods; the study in the home of the 
children's natural aptitudes and their development with a view to 
choosing a career, by Henry C. Divine, of England; Dr. L. Sissingh, 
of Holland, and Mr. Audollent, of France. 

The question of family instruction on matters of sex was excellently 
presented by Prof. Edmond Goblot, of the University of Lyon; Prof. 
P. Malapert, of the L^'cee Louis le Grand, Paris, and Mr. Jules Renault, 
of Woluwe-Samt-Lambert, Belgium. It was the opinion of the 
speakers that the home was the proper place to impart instruction 
concerning matters of sex to children, but it Vt^as urged that to accom- 
plish this result satisfactorily scientific courses should be organized 
for fathers and mothers that they might themselves be properly 
instructed with reference to the hygiene and pathology of sex and 
might be given some pedagogic instruction with reference to methods 
of presenting such knowledge to cliildren. It was pointed out that 
knowledge of the right sort, and given at the proper time, was the 
safest guarantee of the purity of the cliild. Mr. Renault furnished 
an extended bibliography of works in French calculated to aid parents 
in the matter of sex instruction. Professor Goblot maintained that 
instruction in matters of sex was the foundation of moral education, 
and he deplored the prudor}" that excluded the functions of the organs 



584 EDUCATION REPOET, 1910. 

of reproduction from lessons in etliics and religion. The approach to 
the moral betterment of the race he thought must begin with sexual 
morality in family education. 

The improvement of family life in rural communities was the sub- 
ject of a half dozen excellent papers. Mr. C. Mallien-Goreux, of Bier- 
wart, Belgium, pointed out the advantages of country life for the 
education of the cliild, and he lamented the drift tov,^ard the cities. 
Physically and morally the rural districts furnish the best environment 
for the child. Statistics show that crime increases and that the race 
grows physically weaker in consequence of urban residence. He 
advocated the establishment of agricultural schools throughout the 
rural districts and the inculcation of doctrines of simpler Hving. Mr. 
Paul De Vuyst, vice-president of the congress and inspector of agri- 
culture in the Belgian ministry, presented a thoughtful and forceful 
paper on the professional education of the farmer and the improvement 
of conditions of life in rural communities. He traced the economic 
betterment of Belgian farmers through governmental initiative in 
agricultural education and he emphasized the importance of amelior- 
ating the social conditions of agricultural communities. John C. 
Medd, member of the Departmental Committee on Agricultural Edu- 
cation in England, discussed the education of rural cliildren. He 
called attention to the fact that the rural school has not to educate 
for the life of the farm only, as many of their pupils migrate to the 
cities, and he thought that the village communities should supply 
the towns with good material. He deplored the tendency to give the 
rural lad less education than the city boy. The country boy, he 
argued, wdiether destined to till the fields or not, needs just as thorough 
an elementary education as the town boy, and is entitled to receive 
what may enable liim to rise to any position in life. 

Several papers were presented to tliis section on the needs and 
methods of child study in the home, the most significant of wliich 
was that bj'' Edmund Schopen, of Stoltzheim, Germany, on the 
importance of child psychology. The vast movement which had 
swept over Europe and America, having for its object the better 
understanding of the mental development of children, he believed, 
had not sufficiently influenced the home. He called attention in 
particular to the period of adolescence and the importance of parents 
comprehending its mental and physical characteristics. A brief paper 
was presented on the problem of mental effort and mental fatigue, 
by the writer of this report, and some of the hygienic aspects of special 
significance to the home, such as sleep, food, and periods of growth. 

The third section of the congress considered problems touching 
family education before school age. The question of the diet of the 
child was discussed by Doctors Hcnrotin and Leconte, of Brussels; 
clothing by Miss Marie Parent, of Genval; sense training by Miss 



INTEENATIONAL CONGEESS ON HOME EDUCATION. 585 

J. van Doren, of Belgium, and Mrs. Ancelle, of France; play by 
Mrs. Inna de Kovalcvsky, of Russia; the first habits of the child by 
the Countess of Villermont and Mrs. J. de Meurs, of Belgium; devel- 
opment of the sense of responsibilitj^ by Mrs. Louise Van den Plas, 
of Belgium, Miss Margaret MacMillan, of England, and the Abbe 
Guilbert, of France; nursery problems by Mrs. C. Gomoete, of Bel- 
gium, and !Miss Bernard Mole, of England; and questions touching the 
relation of domestics and governesses to young children by Mrs. 
Houyoux-Richald, of Belgium, and Pastor H. Briick, of Bochum, 
Germany. 

The fourth section of the congress discussed family education 
during the school age; and, after section two, it was the largest 
sectional meeting of the congress. Mss Lempereur, principal of the 
Lycee Fenelon at Lille, France, presented the opening paper on the 
question of school age. If conditions are normal and the health of 
the child good, she thought school instruction in certain studies — 
gymnastics, manual training, reading, writing, drawing, and num- 
ber — might begin at the age of 5 years; the more formal study of the 
maternal language at the age of 7 ; English, geography, and music at 
8; history and the elements of science at 9; German and arithemtic 
and hj^giene at 10, and Latin at 15. Miss L. Baudeuf, of Tourcoing, 
France, had a paper on the value of the principles of Froebel in the 
family education of the child, and Mrs. E. L. Franklin, of England, 
indicated some lines of education that must be carried on in the home 
during the school age. The home, she urged, must be held respon- 
sible for the physical well-being of the child; it must enforce habits of 
personal hygiene; cultivate a love for physical exercises and fresh 
air, provide frequent and thorough ablutions and simple and nutritious 
food. She thought, also, that the home should he held responsible 
for the training of the conscience of the child, and for moral lessons 
in purity, truth, honesty, etc. 

Professor Merriam, of the School of Education of the University of 
Missouri, had an important paper on the school's contribution to the 
home. He pointed out that the home life of boys and girls should 
consist largely in playing, in seeing and v/ondering, in doing with the 
hand what may be useful or ornamental, and in enjoying the printed 
or related story. In the home is the immediate life of the pupil. 
Efficiency in immediate life is the best preparation for an effective 
later life. The viewpoint of the child in his development is more 
fundamental than that of the adult. The child lives in the present; 
the adult looks into the future. The school must be productive, not 
formal. The community may rightly demand of a school a broadly 
practical education. Thus the school serves as a means of advancing 
home life. Home life is primarily an end; it is only incidentally a 
means of education for later life. 



586 EDUCATIOX EEPOET, 1910, 

The education of girls was the subject of twelve papers by as man}' 
different speakers. Doctor Cordier, of Brussels, outlined an elabo- 
rate course of semimedical instruction suitable for girls in secondary 
schools and essential for the duties of wifehood and motherhood, 
including such topics as dangers of prematurely 3"oung marriages, 
hygiene of pregnancy, conditions attending childbirth, the diet of 
babies, cliildren's diseases, and infant mortality. Mss C. Hamel, of 
Munich, Germany, belieyed that the education of girls should be 
regarded chiefly from the viewpoints of hygiene, domestic economy, 
and ethics. Mrs. Van Besien, of Brussels, empliasized the impor- 
tance of courses of instruction in hygiene, maternit}", child study, and 
dietetics. She pointed out the particular need of such courses in the 
schools for girls in rural districts. The same topics were recom- 
mended in the paper of Mrs. Matilde Garcia del Real, of Madrid; Miss 
R. Boreux, of Liege, recommended the dropping of many of the 
so-called literary and artistic studies in girls' schools and substituting 
laboratory courses in physics, hygiene, and bacteriology. Miss A. 
Pelseneer, of Ghent, advocated kindergarten training courses, 
clinical courses in nurseries, and courses in sexual hygiene and child 
study. 

Seven papers presented the problem of nurses, governesses, and 
domestic servants in their relation to the home education of the 
child. Most of the speakers emphasized the need of greater training 
for such posts, and particularly more extended courses in hygiene 
and child psychology. Several papers were also devoted to the 
training of teachers. Mr. V. Mirgeut, of Brussels, thought that nor- 
mal schools and training colleges should devote more time to the 
psychology of childhood and adolescence, questions touching mater- 
nity and paternity, school h^^giene, manual training, and social 
science; and in normal schools for women, domestic science. 

The formation of the character of the young was the subject of 
papers by Mrs. Sophie Bryant, principal of the North London (Eng- 
land) Collegiate School, the Abbe Dejace, principal of St. Paul 
Institute, at Liege, and Dr. J. van Rees, of Amsterdam. Mrs. Brj^ant 
pointed out that a larger share of attention, insight, and skill rather 
than a larger portion of time was what was most needed in character 
training, since this kind of educational work can not be measured 
m hours per week. Steady discipline is what counts most. A well- 
ordered school hfe aids most in such virtues as courtesy, fair play, 
generosity, courage, etc. 

The value of manual training in the education of the child v.'as 
presented by Inspector Marvin, of England; Mrs. Hierta Retzius, of 
Sweden; Mr. C. Vry, of Holland, and Mr. J. B. Tensi, of Belgium. 
Mr. Marvin maintained that manual training should be an integral 
part of the education of every child. The expression of ideas in 



INTEEls'ATIONAL CO]S"GKESS 02s" HOME EDUCATION. 587 

manual activities is strong in childhood, and the child's early con- 
structive work contains in germ the adult's artistic and mechanical 
achievement. Moreover, manual training forms the best basis for 
character training. Manual training gives keenness, resourcefulness, 
readiness of mind and hand to turn old things to new uses, and 
habits of usefulness and economy. 

Education in aesthetics was considered from various view points 
by seven speakers. Mr. J. H. Bradley, head master of the Beadles 
School, England, argued that modern education was too exclusively 
intellectual. More attention should be devoted to hand work and 
art in all their forms as means of intellectual, moral, and £esthetical 
training. Four important agencies in the cultivation of the sesthetic 
sense of the child are drawing, music, dancing, and dramatic art. 
Artistic appreciation can not be put into the child, only drawn out 
by means of self-expression, and self-expression should at once be 
the end and the means of training the sssthetic sense. The Abbe 
Lisin, of Ferriers, Belgium, discussed scenery and country hfe as 
factors in the development of the aesthetic sense. We must not only 
teach the children to love the country, but to love the manual labor 
in the country fields. Prof. Paul Gautier, of Stanislas College, Paris, 
presented some of the means of cultivating taste among young 
people for things artistic. He spoke of the value of the study of 
artistic buildings, statuary, and paintings through reproductions, 
supplemented by frequent visits to art museums. Mr. J. Lejeune, 
of Brussels, gave an account of aesthetic courses in the elementary, 
secondary, and normal schools of Belgium. Baron Driesen, of Russia, 
pointed out the value of the theater as an agency in the development 
of the aesthetic sense of the child. 

To the American student of education the small consideration 
given to coeducation — one brief paper — came as something of a 
matter of surprise. But it Vvill be recalled that outside of the sparsely 
settled sections of a few countries in northern Europe, coeducation 
can scarcely be said to exist in Europe. The paper by Mr. Ernest 
Contou, of Aquitaine, pointed out the value of coeducation in an out- 
door school. 

Forty-four papers were presented to section five, which was con- 
cerned v/ith family education after the school age, more than a dozen 
being devoted to the matter of continuation schools for girls. Here, 
as in the other sections, it was pointed out that elementary and sec- 
ondary education, as at present administered, fail to give the kinds 
of training needed for the functions of motherhood, child rearing, 
and housekeeping. Lady Riicker, of Kings College for Women, 
England, urged the addition of courses in biology, hygiene, sanitary 
science, household economics, and child training as requirements for 
graduation in women's colleges. She also urged the organization of 



588 EDUCATION EEPOKT, 1010. 

continuation classes for parents who already have children. Other 
speakers indicated what was being done in the dL^'erent European 
countries in the matter of continuing the education of those who have 
completed the compulsory school })eriod. In this respect the indus- 
trial cities of western Europe seem to surpass the United States. 

The same section considered the problem of social education. 
The paper by Dr. Michael E. Sadler dealt with the problem of supple- 
mentary education of 3^oung men from the social point of view. He 
thought that there was a tendency to think too exclusively of the 
utilitarian and technical side of supplementary education. Such 
courses should inculcate the love of music, the love of drama, the love 
of painting, and the other fine arts. Education of character and the 
training for the duties of the civic life are also of importance. Albert 
Mansbridge gave an account of the rise of university tutorial classes 
in England. The purpose of this institution is (1) to arouse among 
the industrial classes greater interest in higher education and to 
direct their attention to the facilities already provided; (2) to ascer- 
tain the needs and wishes of workers in regard to education; and (3) 
to provide, either in conjunction wdth local authorities or otherwise, 
facilities for studies of interest to workers which have hitherto been 
overlooked. 

School excursions were discussed by Mr. P. Groeninckx, of Belgium, 
and Professor Desfeuilles, of France. The international exchange of 
pupils for the purpose of apprehending modern languages was pre- 
sented from various view points by Mr. H. Mocquillon, of Paris, Mr. 
Francois Kemeny, of Budapest, and the Abbe Grand, of Cologne. 
Local organizations in Europe carry on the necessary negotiations for 
the exchange of pupils. 

The sixth section of the congress was devoted to matters concern- 
ing the education of abnormal children. Besides the introductory 
address by Doctor Decroly, of Bnissels, on the classification of defective 
children, the really important address of the section (and of the con- 
gress) was that made by Dr. Henry H. Goddard, of Vineland, N. J., 
on heredity as a factor in mental defectiveness. In his own institu- 
tion some two hundred family trees have been partially worked out. 
Forty of them have been studied in detail, giving information as to 
the mental and physical condition of individuals in from two to five 
generations. Charts were exhibited which showed much degeneracy 
running through the families; in several cases where both parents 
were alcoholic or tuberculous, all the children born to them were 
feeble-minded. On the other hand, where one parent was tuber- 
culous and the other alcoholic, about half the children v/ere healthy. 
His cliart showed that when both parents were imbecile, most of the 
children were imbecile. The expert character of Doctor Goddard's 
work was widely recognized. 



INTERITATIONAL CONGRESS ON SCHOOL HYGIENE. 589 

The seventh section of the congress dealt with various child-saving 
agencies such as societies for the prevention of alcoholism and 
tuberculosis, children's courts, care of abandoned children, etc.; 
the eighth section considered the various documents and other publi- 
cations bearing upon family education, in addition to the general 
and sectional meetings of the congress there were several receptions 
and visits to various educational institutions. 

Three invitations were presented by the United States for the 
next meeting of the congress. Mrs. Frederic SchofF, on behalf of 
the Mothers' Congress of America, presented an invitation from the 
city of Washington; Mrs. J. Scott Anderson, in the name of several 
organizations, the University of Pennsylvania, and the municipal 
authorities, presented an invitation from the city of Philadelphia, 
and Mrs. Fannie Fern Andrews presented an invitation from the 
city of Boston. 

The executive committee decided to accept provisionally the 
United States as the place of the next meeting, but the matter of 
city and date, as well as the organization of the next congress, it left 
to the following American committee: President, Commissioner 
Elmer E. Brown, of the United States Bureau of Education; vice- 
president, Prof. M. V. O'Shea, of the University of Wisconsin; 
secretary, the writer of this report. Other members of the com- 
mittee: Mrs. Frederic Schoff, of Philadelphia; Mrs. J. Scott Anderson, 
of Swarthmore; Mrs. Fannie Fern Andrews, of Boston, and Mrs. 
Ellen M. Henrotin, of Chicago. The next meeting will probably be 
held during August, 1912 or 1913. 



II. REPORT or THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON SCHOOL HYGIENE, 
HELD AT PARIS AUGUST 2-7, 1010. 

By Thomas F. Harrington, M. D., Delegate representing the National Bureau of 
Education, Washington, D. C. 



Boston, September 3, 1910. 
To the Commissioner of Education of the United States. 

Sir: I have the honor to respectfully present a report as repre- 
sentative to the Third International Congress on School Hygiene, 
held at Paris August 2 to 7 of the present year. 

The official opening of the congress took place on August 2 at the 
Sorbonne, Paris. It was a brilliant assembly of more than 1,600 
delegates, representing nearly all the countries of the world. Pro- 
fessor Landouzy, dean of the faculty of medicine of Paris, represent- 
ing the minister of public instruction, presided. 

Doctor Landouzy dwelt upon the aims of the congress and stated 
that there was no greater work than that of moral and physical 



590 EDUCATION EEPOET^ 1910. 

hygiene. Hygiene instruction begun at an early age he said meant 
the moral and the physical health of the individual and of the race. 
Dr. Albert Mathieu, the president of the congress, replied. 

In advocating open-air schools and their extension, Doctor Mathieu 
said that the time spent and the recreation taken in the open air >,vere 
of the first importance to the health of the school children. He 
declared that the education of to-morrow, which will be the natural 
education, the physiologic education, would be how to improve the 
intellectual education of the j^oung, while at the same time diminish- 
ing the time devoted to stud3^ He made a strong plea for the uni- 
formity of methods in the medical inspection of schools, and showed 
that the reorganization of the system of school hj^giene would result 
in more air in the schools, in the lungs, and in the programmes. 

Short addresses were made by the official representatives of the 
various governments. The representative of the National Bureau 
of Education of the United States conveyed to the congress the as- 
surance of widespread interest in this country in the purposes of the 
congress. The debt which America, as a young country, owes to the 
Old World, especially to France, in matters of general sciences, edu- 
cation, and art, was duly acknowledged, and the gifts of general 
anesthesia by etherization, of the amelioration of the ravages of 
puerperal fever, and the daring and brilliancy of American surgery 
were offered in part payment for the indebtedness. 

The conviction was expressed that educators and physicians in 
America were awake to the lessons of preventive medicine, and espe- 
cially to the opportunities here for avoiding many of the conditions 
now being fought by school hygiene in the older countries. 

The hope was expressed that the congress would meet in America 
in the near future in order that the methods in use here might receive 
the advantage of revicAv and correction from tlie leaders in hygiene 
from the Old World. 

The sessions of the congress were held daily at the Grand Palais 
on August 3, 4, 5, and G. Each session opened with a general meet- 
ing, at which a report upon some particular topic, as " Uniformity 
of m.ethod for pin'sical examination in schools," " Sexual education," 
" The training and appointment of the school doctor," was presented 
by special reporters. Discussion continued from 9 to 10.30 o'clock 
a. m., at which time adjournment took place for the work of the 
various sections. 

In the reports on the uniformity of methods for physical exami- 
nations in schools, the French reporters (Doctors Mery and Dufestel) 
advocated an anthropometric measurement of height, weight, and 
perimeter of the chest with a record of the respiratory amplitude, 
and a somatic examination of the chest, of the glandular system, of 
sight, of hearing, of the skeleton, of the nervous S3^stem, as well as 



INTET^KATTONAT^ CONGRESS ON SCHOOL HYGIENE. 591 

of the scalp and hair. A\'eighing- and measuring without clothing and 
shoes was advocated; testing hearing by the whispering voice rather 
than by watch tick was favored ; and microscopic examination of the 
hair in cases of alopecia was thought essential. 

The English reporter (Doctor Kerr) divided the duties of the 
doctor into two groups: (1) For the prevention of infectious dis- 
eases; (2) for the improvement of general health and detection of 
defects requiring amelioration. 

The prevention of infectious diseases in large towns and cities was 
considered futile if limited to efforts in schools alone. " The home 
and the streets are more promising as a battle ground." " Daily 
visitation of schools by doctors with a vague preventive aim is 
waste of time and money." " Inspection for improvement of the 
general health and the detection of defects must be both scientific 
and practical. The accumulation of large masses of data is to 
be discouraged. A preliminary sorting of children on entrance is 
advocated and after that the recording of ahnormal children should 
be employed." 

The report on sexual education Avas presented hj Doctor Chotzen, 
of Breslau, and was the object of much heated controversy, that con- 
tinued throughout the congress. The necessity of keeing the in- 
struction in the hands of doctors chosen for that purpose was ad- 
mitted generall}'^, " because for the time being the doctors alone pos- 
sess the necessary knowledge for this class of teaching." Parents and 
teachers should be instructed before attempts are made to instruct 
the i^upils. No method presented, by which instruction on sexual 
hygiene could be given in school to groups of pupils, w^as considered 
worthy of approval. Each method suggested had more elements of 
objection than of approval. No other topic was so fully and 
earnestly discussed as this topic of the teaching of sexual hygiene. ( 

The third general report, namely, the training and the appoint- 
ment of the school doctor, was presented hj Doctor Lesieur, Lyon, 
and Doctor Desquin, Antwerp. This report was by far the most 
import[\,nt of the congress. Eveiy one realized that upon the proper 
solution of this problem rested the whole superstructure of school 
hygiene. Both reporters independently reached the sam.e conclusion, 
namely, that it is not necessary that the school doctor should be a 
specialist, but that he should be a man of science and of conscience. 
Competitive examination, as instituted at Paris by the recent plan of 
organization, w^as strongly urged. A general medical knowledge of a 
superior type, with a special knowledge of problems of infantile 
medicine, was considered a basis of good preparation. In addition 
to these, special work in hygiene, in laboratories of bacteriology and 
chemistr}^, and a knowledge of sociology and pedagogy with a capac- 
ity for teaching both by means of familiar lectures were advocated as 



592 EDUCATION EEPOET^ 1910, 

essentials. The necessity for cooperation of doctor, teacher, and the 
home was accepted as a sine qua non of success. 

The programme upon which medical inspection of schools should 
rest should be without exaggeration of the medical point of view and 
should give full recognition to the schooPs aim and purpose. The 
programme was stated as follows: 

The scliool, consklered, ofteu with reason, to be the source of diseases aud 
divers deformities, ought to serve in preserving the childi-en from those diseases 
and in repairing the deformities from which they are suffering; to light against 
the predisposition which heredity or bad conditions in which they live have 
placed them; to strengthen their constitutions; in a word to make them suit- 
able, intellectually and physically, in the struggle for life. 

The general work of the congress was divided into eleven sections. 
In each section one or two reporters had been selected to report at 
the opening of the session uj)on some particular subject. These re- 
ports formed a volume of nearly 500 pages. In addition to these 
special rej^orts, special communications were admitted at each session 
of each section. These with the discussions are to be published in 
book form. 

Section 1 was devoted to educational buildings and furnishings. 
Shower baths were recommended as a part of necessary school equip- 
ment. In Norway 27 per cent of the towns have baths in the schools. 
Some are free, others charge a small price for towels. Swimming 
baths do not exist in any of their schools, although rescuing the 
shipwrecked and swimming lessons are given. Children recently at 
baths are not permitted to go out for recreation on account of danger 
of catching cold. Objections rai.sed by parents are: Fear of catching 
vermin in the dressing rooms, the confinement of children in rooms 
when the air is vitiated by the emanatious of linen and dampness, 
and the direct weakening of power for work in lessons following the 
bath. 

Section 2 was devoted to the hygiene of residential schools. The 
plan of small dormitories (10 or 12 beds) was favored and the rural, 
rather than the urban, style of construction advocated. The amateur 
theatricals and evening parties were condenmed as potent factors in 
causing or aggravating sexual bad habits. 

To warn the boarders of the danger resulting from onanism is a two-edged 
weapon which slips from the doctor's hands, especially when used prophy- 
lactically. It is only in the case where the fault will have been detected that 
it would be profitable for the guilty to know the dangers to which they are 
exposed. The explanation can be given by the doctor, the mother, or the 
teacher (Gozdzicki, Sarsovie). 

Section 3 considered medical inspection of schools and individual 
health records. Practical measures for active application. This sec- 
tion dwelt strongly upon the necessity of cordial relations of doctor, 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON SCHOOL HYGIENE. 593 

teacher, home, and the family physician. The differing aspects of 
medical inspection in rural and in the urban schools were pointed out 
in well prepared papers. Three examinations during the child's 
school life were proposed: (1) On admission, as a filter; (2) at about 
the eighth year of age, a compulsory examination, especially of the 
mind and special senses; (3) before leaving, preferably in the thir- 
teenth year of age. 

lieports were presented from France, Italy, Germany, and Eng- 
land, showing the methods employed in each country. The term 
" school doctor," or " school physician," expresses more accurately the 
duties outlined than the term "' medical inspector," as understood in 
America. All reports emphasized the necessity of avoiding inter- 
ference with the family physician in the care or treatment of school 
children. The value of scjiool nurses in follow^ing up the children 
inspected was highly indorsed. School clinics had their advocates 
and their opponents. A most comprehensive and special report on 
the organization of the medical inspectors of schools in France vfas 
presented by Dr. M. L. Guibert. 

Physical training was the subject considered in section 4. "Play- 
grounds are as indispensable for pupils as air and light. These 
spaces ought to be situated in proximity to schools. It is the abso- 
lute duty of authorities who have not dealt with the question of 
playgrounds to take the subject into consideration" (Converset). 
The term " physical education " was substituted for the term " gym- 
nastics" "because it rouses an idea of conscious and natural exercise, 
always adapted to a useful aim and not to a particular system of 
movements" (Demeny). Physical education should have four quali- 
ties — health or strength; dexterity and agility; bodily beauty and 
initiative; courage, daring, and the persevering will. Each of these 
is acquired by particular exercises, and physical education is the 
harmony of the various and different movements which give these 
qualities physical perfection. Automatic exercises were condemned 
as being unintelligent, and simple exercises demanding from the 
pupil a personal effort which develops his will and initiative were 
advocated. The exercises should be in accordance with age and 
capacity. In a child the avoidance of violent exercise or overexertion 
is necessary on account of the overpowering influence of the action of 
growth. Here games in the open air, liberty, and hygiene are the 
proper course. The relationship of proper attitudes in manual work 
and in sloyd was the subject of much discussion. The use of the 
right and left hands alternately in all possible forms of work was 
advocated. 

Section 5 dealt with the prevention of contagious diseases in school 
and with illnesses attributable to school attendance. Besides reports 
59041°— ED 1910— VOL 1 38 



594 EDUCATION EEPOET, 1910. 

on parasitic diseases of skin and on the prevention of malaria among 
school children, two special reports were presented on the superintend- 
ence of infected children when out of school and the conditions of 
their readmission to school. The French reporter (Doctor Merklen) 
advocated isolation periods as follows: Measles, eight daj^s after com- 
mencement of eruption ; scarlet fever, during peeling, minimum, forty 
days; smallpox, fifteen days after recovery; chicken pox, during the 
drying, minimum, fifteen days; rubeola, four or five days after end 
of the eniption; mumps, twenty -five days after commencement; diph- 
theria, forty to sixty days; whooping cough, during stage of fits of 
coughing; vermin, after disappearance of nits. Readmission on cer- 
tificate of physician only. Those exposed are to be excluded as fol- 
lows: Measles, twenty days; scarlet fever, six weeks; smallpox, fif- 
teen days; rubeola, twenty-five days; diphtheria, while harboring 
germ; whooping cough, eight days. The American reporter (Dr. 
Thomas F. Harrington) showed that the greatest danger lies in the 
mild or unrecognized cases of infectious diseases; that the present 
state of our knowledge points to the sores, or discharge of lips, mou^i, 
nose, ear, or throat as the probable source of contagion in scarlet feve.\ 
rather than the peeling or desquamation. The decline in morbidity of '\ 
school diseases in summer is seasonal and not due to school closure, 
as statistics for tv/enty years in Boston show that the decline in the 
wave of morbidity began three weeks before the opening of the schools 
in the fall term. School closure not necessary unless there is a room 
outbreak of diphtheria or scarlet fever. Infection in measles occurs 
before the rash, hence all not immune are probably infected upon the 
detection of the first case. 

The section voted to adopt the resolution olffered by Doctor Har- 
rington that special quarantine nurses were the most effective means ^ 
of controlling in the hom.e cases that would not accept hospital iso- 
lation, and secondly, that the high mortality and morbidity from 
measles and whooping cough were unnecessary and were due to crim- 
inal ignorance on the part of parents. These diseases are more 
fatal than scarlet fever or smallpox. 

The section thought prophylactive doses of antitoxin more effec- 
tive in controlling diphtheria in schools than the exclusion of 
" carriers." 

The idea was emphasized that parasitic diseases of the skin are 
all avoidable, and that the liberal use of soap and water is sufficient 
to accomplish that end. X-ray treatment advocated for favus. In- 
struction by school nurses was acknowledged to be a most effective 
method of education in the homes in combating infection. 

Open-air schools, vacation colonies, and out-of-school hygiene 
were the subjects of section 6. The distinction observed in America 
between open-air " day schools " and the sanatoria was emphasized. 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON SCHOOL HYGIENE. 595 

The former rooms or schools are for the weak, anemic, glandular 
children, and are preventive; the latter form of school — the sana- 
torium — is for those exhibiting active signs of tmoerculosis. In the 
Lyon open-air school the midday rest is much shorter than in the 
foreign schools, because the pretubercular do not require so much 
rest as the tuberculous. The formula '^ Double rations of air, double 
rations of food, half rations of work " should be adopted for all 
open-air instruction. Definite programmes for open-air schools were 
presented. 

In section 7 the teaching staff, their hygiene, their relations with 
the homes and with the school doctor were gii^en special attention. 
The physical examination of all candidates for the teaching profes- 
sion was urged and special examination for signs of tubercular dis- 
ease, aortic regurgitation, mitral disease with heart failure, Graves's 
disease (even in its slightest form), marked neurasthenia, chronic 
Bright's disease, and diabetes mellitus, any one of which should reject 
the applicant. " Graves's disease is six times more common among 
females than among males and more common among female teachers 
than in other individuals" (Williamson). School nurses and the use 
of schoolrooms hj parents vrere argued as effective agencies in accom- 
plishing happy relationship between masters and parents. " Medical 
inspectors and hygienists who are interested in the schools ought 
always to remember that ' once for all school is not a sanatorium ; it is 
for the pupils as for the masters a craft, a profession, and each craft, 
even the easiest, admits in itself some dangers.' In addition, school- 
masters must not forget that the school role does not exclusively con- 
sist in accumulating as much knowledge as possible in the pupils' 
brains, but also in making them clever and healthy men " (Altschul). 

Section 8 dealt with the teaching of hygiene to teachers, scholars, 
and parents. The importance and the necessity of the teaching of 
infant rearing to mistress and pupils were particularly urged. Also 
the teaching of temperance in schools. " The master can exercise 
his trust only if he himself knows general hygiene, and more espe- 
cially school hygiene. His intelligence and devotion can not supply 
the place of the knowledge of this delicate science, of Avhich he ought 
to have a sufficient notion if he desires to have the right of teaching 
publicly" (Halle). 

Teaching methods and syllabuses in relation to school hygiene was 
the heading for section 9. Definite time-tables were presented for 
children of different school ages. These tables were based upon 
biology, and had in view the recognized fact that 3"oung organism, 
while having a very active cellular activity, soon exhausts itself. 
Hence the necessity for frequent rest and change. 

The subject of inattention was particularly interesting. The 
causes of inattention given were: (1) Parents' influence; indifferent 



596 EDUCATION KEPORT, 1910. 

to instruction or having need of their chiklren for domestic work; 
the parents do not impose on them a regnhir attendance; sometimes 
they give them a mcntaiit}^ incompatible with fitness for school tasks. 
(2) Indiscipline, which prevails especially in secondary instruction; 
also sometimes in a too severe restraint. (3) Insufficiency of acquired 
knowledge, lack of homogeneity, apathy of character, dull witted- 
ness, exclusive taste for out-of -school tasks; in a Avord, intellectual 
weakness. (4) Various physiological causes, e. g., muscular weak- 
ness, sensorial infirmities, inequality or insufficiency of age, lymphat- 
ism, neuropathic heredity, imperfect nourishment, season, disposi- 
tion, etc. 

Causes of inattention associated with j^lans and methods of in- 
struction are: (1) The disproportion between some subjects of in- 
struction and the jjupils' age; the waste of time. (2) Lack of 
adaptation of methods, whether intuitive or dialectic, according to 
the personality of the master or the pupil. (3) With the masters a 
lack of psychology, which makes them confuse amusement and inter- 
est and does not permit them to adapt their process to the jjupils' 
temperaments. The remedies suggested were: All tonics of the 
mind and body, especially ever^'thing that improves and regulates 
the principal physiological functions; more regularity in school at- 
tendance and collaboration with the parents ; methods better adapted 
to pupil's age ; programme less full and nearer to life ; more concen- 
tration in the use of time; a discipline, kind but severe; a better 
arrangement of material and premises; and, finally, the cultivation 
by masters of the physiological sense and of intellectual sympathy. 
The evil effects on attention resulting from imperfect sanitary condi- 
tions of the schools, results which are both psychical and physical, 
were shown. 

Another subject of equal importance considered in this section was 
the advantages and the disadvantages of distributing or concentrat- 
ing lessons in planning the time-tables. Schreg, of Berne, maintained 
that too many subjects are taught simultaneously; that there is no 
unity in the minds of the pupils; and that we aim too exclusively at 
the training of the memory. Concentration was favored. " If only 
we succeed in finding an intimate link between the subjects of a cer- 
tain group, the inadequacy of our present system can be much miti- 
gated." 

The subjects were grouped into two classes — the one made up of 
languages and the other of mathematics and science; the latter 
subjects to be grouped around one common center — the action of the 
hand. Levn>^-Wogue contended that there was no class type, but 
pupils only. That what distinguishes pupils from each other are 
difference of attention, will, and education. He showed that the 
sensation of fatigue is not measured by the duration of the classes, 



INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON SCHOOL HYGIENE. 597 

but by the nature of the subject ; and that every pedagogical problem 
comes back to the art of keeping the attention. Short lessons and 
varying exercises were offered as remedies. 

The abnormal child was the subject of general discussion in sec- 
tion 10. The distinction between the backward child and the men- 
tally defective was plainly set forth. The advantage of manual 
work in the time-table was emphasized and the necessity for follow- 
ing the natural sentiments of the child in the order of development, 
namely, curiosity and attention. 

Section 11 was divided into subsections on the hygiene of the eye, 
of the ear, of the mouth and teeth. Le Prince advocated as a treat- 
ment in short-sighted pupils upright v/riting for the young children, 
and later slant writing. The manner of holding of the pen by the 
child has much importance. Dufour corroborated Cohn's rules, viz: 
(1) In all schools the number of short-sighted pupils increases from 
class to class. (2) The average degree of short-sightedness increases 
from class to class. (3) The number of short-sighted pupils in- 
creases with the increase of school demands. 

Drs. Gelle fils, of Paris, and Hennebert, of Brussels, presented a 
joint report on hov/ to measure the hearing power of school children. 
They concluded that all who can not hear a whispered voice at two 
meters can not profit by stay in the class. Schoolrooms from 8 to 
9 meters long for 30 pupils were advocated as best for teacher's voice 
and pupils' ears. Dental clinics and popu.lar lectures were favored 
for combating the neglect of oral hygiene. 

Each afternoon, demonstrations of physical exercises, games, 
plays, and folk dances were given by groups of pupils from schools 
of different nations. Each group demonstrated the strength and the 
weakness of each type of exercise. 

The excursions and social entertainments arranged by the local 
committees were all well planned and offered to the visitors and 
delegates very pleasant opportunities for instruction and enter- 
tainment. 

The concluding meeting of the congress was held at the " Sor- 
bonne " Saturday, August 6. M. Henry Cheron, secretary of the 
department of marine, presided. Addresses were made by M. Che- 
ron and by Doctor Mathieu, president of the congi'ess. Short ad- 
dresses were offered by Sir Lauder Brunton, representing England, 
and Dr. Thomas F. Harrington for the United States. The city 
of Buffalo, United States of America, extended an invitation to the 
congress to meet in that city in 1913. The representation from 
Buffalo agreed that the organization and planning of the scientific, 
educational, and social parts of the congress should be in the hands 
of a national committee to be elected later under the auspices of the 
American School Hygiene Association. With this assurance, Doc- 



598 EDUCATION EEPOET^ 1910. 

tor Harrington, as a representative of the executive committee of tlie 
American School Hygiene Association, seconded the invitation, and 
the congress voted unanimously to hold its next meeting at Buffalo 
in 1913. Sir James Grant pledged the support of Canada. 
Respectfully submitted. 

Thomas F. Harringtox, 
Director of S<:hool Flygiene, Boston Public Schools. 



III. REPORT or THE THIRD IXTERXATIOXAL CONGRESS ON THE PHYSICAL 
EDUCATION OF THE YOUNG, HELD AT BRUSSELS, AUGUST 10-13, 1010. 



IkjSTox, Sepfemher 7, 1910. 
To the Commissioner of Education, 

Washi/t{/foii, 1). C. 

Sir: I have the honor to respectfully present the report of the 
Third International Congress on the Physical Education of the 
Young, held at Brussels August 10 to 13 of the present year. 

The United States was represented by Drs. H. M. Bracken, Arthur 
T. Cabot, R. Tait McKenzie, and Thomas F. Harrington. The 
congress oi^ened August 10 at the Grande Salle des Fates of the 
Brussels Exposition. Dr. Victor Desquin was president of the 
congress. In his opening address Doctor Desquin pointed out the 
extreme importance of physical education and the widespread rec- 
ognition of this fact to-day. " L'elan est donne declare t-il, il ne 
s'arretera pas.'' 

M. A. Fosseprez, the secretary-genend of the congress, presented a 
report in which he declared that physical education is a question of 
progress, of patriotism, and of humanitarianism ; tliat it makes each 
child a strong unit in the collective humanity; that it is not possible 
to separate the physical education from general education, for all the 
biologic phenomena, which are intellectual, moral, or physical, are 
intimately united. He contended for shorter lessons in schcJols in 
order that the pupils might have more time for physical exercises in 
the open air. Following this report the delegates representing Hol- 
land, Austria, Russia, Mexico, Argentine, United States (Doctor 
McKenzie), Portugal, and France presented the greetings of their 
respective Governments. 

The work of the congress was divided into two general divisions, one 
devoted to the theory of physical education, the other to the method 
and application. A series of questions had been prepared and differ- 
ent authorities asked to prepare a report on each. Daily sessions were 
held on August 11, 12, and 13. 



CON"GEESS ON PHYSICAL EDUCATION. 599 

At the opening- session the question of preparation of the young 
for military life was discussed, and out of the discussion the follow- 
ing resolutions were adopted: (1) All grouping recalling the school 
battalion should be banished from the school. (2) The instruction 
given in the school and in the societies should not encroach upon the 
professional military domain. (3) The federation and sporting soci- 
eties keep their autonomy, and in exchange for certain advantages 
they offer to the State the result of their work. (4) The gymnastics 
applied to the school ought to be adequate to the aptitude and to the 
nature of the child, and directed by educators possessing pedagogical 
knowledge. 

At the second session the question of games, plaj^s, and sports was 
presented. In this report and discussion the difference between organ- 
ized games and free play vr as pointed out, and the danger of prolonged 
sports, such as football for half an hour, in producing hypertrophy 
of the heart, was emphasized. There was much difference of opinion 
on the value and the advantages of football as a school sport, espe- 
cially for boys under the age of 18 years. Handball was favored in 
preference to football. All matches, contests, and competition in 
sports were condemned. Athletics for sport's sake alone were advo- 
cated. Here, as in the previous report on preparation for military 
life, the problem did not have direct bearing upon the conditions in 
the United States, many of the games and sports discussed, especially 
football, being different from the American school games. 

M. Sluys maintained that the aim of play is the recreation, the 
development of sociability; that contests and matches destroyed 
these; that one plays only for the glory. He expressed himself 
strongly against the publicity given to the " ridiculous and murder- 
ous " sporting events. 

The congress advocated the adoption of plays and sports better 
adapted to the physiologic development of the pupils, and recom- 
mended a greater preparation of teachers of physical education in 
point of view of plays and sports. After the age of 18 years inter- 
scholastic matches and the giving of prizes of very small value vfere 
permitted. 

The reports on questions of general methods and on the applica- 
tion of gymnastics were very important and brought out some heated 
controversies. The discussion at times partook much of the form of 
personalities between the advocates of rival schools. After much 
heated discussion it was voted to adopt the conclusion that (1) peda- 
gogic gymnastics ought to comprehend the attitude, the movements, 
the exercises of which the scientific and experimental studies have 
verified the physiologic effects as capable of favoring the aim of 
physical and general education. (2) There is cause for forming 
laboratories where the physiologic effect of the different gymnastics 



600 EDUCATTOISr REPORT^ 1910. 

pliould be stucliecl. The results of the labors should be published in a 
bulletin. The labors should be confined to physiologists possessing 
the technique of special instructors and accustomed to the practice of 
gymnastic exercises. 

The congress took a decided stand in favor of little or no formal 
gymnastics in the kindergarten and lower primary gi'ades. At that 
age the education of the aptitude by means of play with playthings, 
marches with songs, allegorical plays, and dances were favored. In 
the upper primary classes, the corrective and analytic gymnastics be- 
come most important. " In the first two years of the grammar school 
and in the classes below those of the atheneum, one should give equal 
attention to each of the three aims — hygiene, esthetic, economic, but 
accentuating somewhat corrective g^nnnastics. He should accustom 
himself to notice, at that age, in the pupils' bones, an evolution of the 
organism which it is necessary to watch closely if one wishes to avoid 
the deformities" (Deneve). In the last year of the grammar school 
and in the high school, the exercises of ajjplication take a prominent 
place. Games and sports should be recommended to young men. 

In the discussion of the application of g;^^mnastics, the following 
resolutions prevailed: (1) That pedagogic gymnastics should be the 
basis of the application of gymnastics. (2) The applications under 
the form of play, of swimming, of dances, of rhythm should appertain 
to programmes of all degrees of instruction and ought to be in har- 
mony with the fundamental principles of pedagogic gymnastics. 
(3) The professional application of gymnastics, such as the special 
exercises of military gymnastics, of those of firemen, of marines, etc. 
do not form a part of the programme of schools. (4) The school 
gymnastics should not go to the application, but should tend toAvard it. 

On question No. 6, " Comparative value of the theoretic deduc- 
tion and the scientific experimentation in the fixation of the bases 
of the method," M. G. Demeny presented the results of his researches. 
This report was construed as an attack upon present methods of 
gymnastics, especially the Swedish school. Two sessions were con- 
sumed in the discussion, which became very personal at times. 
Demeny contended for movements which, in order to obtain the maxi- 
mum of usefid effect, must be natural and have a practical aim. He 
deprecated the artificial movements and advocated movements more 
complete, more varied, more conformable to those connected with the 
ordinary occupations. He pointed out especially the abuse of the 
movements of respiration so often associated with an unnecessary 
expenditure of force preceding the effort. 

At the session on August 12 the following resolutions, which had 
been adopted at the International Congress on School Hygiene at 
Paris the week previously, were adopted: (1) It is desirable that 
the physical education of all the boys and of all the girls in all schools, 



CONGRESS 0>T PHYSICAL EDUCATIOlSr. 601 

public and private, shall be obligatory. (2) It would be well that in 
all the examinations the major points should be reserved for those 
who prove that they have followed a good course in physical edu- 
cation. 

Many of the other questions presented at the congress were similar 
to those discussed at the Paris Congress on School Hygiene, i. e., med- 
ical examination of boarding schools; hygiene of games, plays, and 
sports; baths, shower baths, and swimming; difference between rural 
and urban organization of gymnastics; school excursions; plan of 
gymnastic lessons, etc. 

Each day practical demonstrations were given by classes from the 
various schools of Brussels and vicinity. The congress concluded 
with a fete of gymnastics comprising about 8,000 gymnasts. This 
demonstration formed a part of the Brussels general exhibition in 
session during the Congress on Physical Education. 

The delegates representing the United States desire to express their 
high appreciation of !Mr. Bryan, the United States ininister at Brus- 
sels, for his kind assistance in their mission and to thank him for his 
homelike hospitality and entertainment during their stay at Brussels. 

This report is respectfully submitted on behalf of the delegates, 
Drs. H. M. Bracken, E. T. McKenzie, and Thomas F. Harrington, 
who met formally at Brussels and authorized its presentation by the 
undersigned. 

Thomas F. Harrington, 
Director of School Hygiene^ Boston PulAlc Schools. 



